Abstract Do foresters often use larger field plots than they really need for cruising timber? Tests in two important forest types indicate that they do. Relative efficiencies of BAF-10 point-samples versus five sizes of circular plots were studied in the Georgia Piedmont. Inventories were made in stands of bottomland hardwoods and loblolly-shortleaf pines. For the hardwood tract, point-samples and 1/10-acre plots provided the most efficient volume estimates, i.e., the greatest precision for the least cost or amount of field time required. In cruising pines, 1/20-acre and 1/10-acre plots ranked highest in relative efficiency.